Chapter 2
Operating your +3
Subjects covered...
Switching on
Tuning-in your TV
Using the +3
The opening menu
Switching on
Connect the mains plug of the power supply unit to the mains supply
socket, and switch on the socket-switch (if necessary). The power
indicator lamp on the top panel of the +3 should illuminate.
Now switch on your TV. On the screen you will probably see either a
faint TV picture or just random 'white noise' and hear a loud
'hissing' sound from the TV's speaker. Adjust the TV's volume control
until the sound is at a comfortable listening level. The next thing to
do is set up the +3 ready for tuning-in.
Preparing to tune-in your TV
The +3 is capable of generating its own test signal, enabling you to
tune-in the TV accurately. The test signal consists of sixteen
vertical colour bars (overprinted with text characters) which appear
on the TV screen, and a repeating tone which is reproduced through the
TV's speaker. (If you are using a black-and-white TV, then the colour
bars appear as varying shades of grey.) You will see and hear the test
signal when you have completed the tuning-in of your TV (described
ahead).
Switch on the test signal by holding down the BREAK key (at the top
right of the keyboard) and while it is held down, press and release
the RESET button (at the left hand side of the +3). Keep the BREAK key
held down for a few seconds longer, then release it. The test signal
will now be generated by the +3, and you should proceed to tune-in
your TV as now described.
Push-button TV channel selectors
If your TV doesn't have push-button channel selectors, then skip to
the section ahead entitled 'Manual tuning'.
If your TV does have push-button channel selectors, then press one of
them to select a spare channel (i.e. one not normally used for
receiving TV or video programmes). Note that if your TV is equipped
with an AFC (or AFT) switch, then this should be set to the off
position.
Using the tuning control that corresponds to the selected channel,
tune-in to the test signal (shown on the previous page). Make sure
that both picture and sound are tuned-in for the best possible
results.
When you are satisfied with the tuning, then you may (if your TV is so
equipped) set the AFC (or AFT) switch to the on position.
Finally, adjust the TV's brightness, contrast and colour controls for
the clearest display of the text characters within the colour bars.
Now that you have tuned-in one of the TV's push-button channel
selectors specifically for the +3, you may thereafter select that
particular channel whenever you wish to use the +3 with your TV.
You may now skip to the section ahead entitled 'Using the +3'.
Manual tuning
If your TV isn't equipped with push-button channel selectors, then you
will have to use the TV's manual tuning knob to tune-in to your +3.
Having connected and switched on the +3 and TV, switch on the +3's
test signal as described in the previous section entitled 'Preparing
to tune-in your TV'.
Tune-in the TV's manual tuning knob until the test signal is received.
Make sure that both picture and sound are tuned-in for the best
possible results.
Each time that you wish to set up and use the +3 with your TV, you
should follow the above manual tuning procedure.
You may now skip to the section ahead entitled 'Using your +3'.
Having problems?
If you have tuned in your TV satisfactorily, you may now skip to the
section ahead entitled 'Using the +3'.
If, however, you are unable to tune-in your TV, the following check
list may help you to ascertain where the problem lies, and what
remedial action you can take.
1. Problem...
The power indicator lamp (on the top panel of the +3) is not
illuminated.
Action...
+ Check 6-pin DIN plug from power supply unit is plugged into PSU
socket on computer.
+ Check mains plug of PSU is plugged into mains supply socket.
+ (If mains supply socket is switched) - Check supply socket switch is
on.
+ Check connections and fuse in mains plug of PSU.
2. Problem...
The power indicator lamp is illuminated, but no signal whatsoever can
be tuned-in on the TV.
Action...
+ Check TV is set up and working correctly.
+ Check TV is standard UHF type (colour or black-and-white)
+ Check aerial lead (supplied) is connected from computer to TV aerial
socket.
+ (If you have push-button channel selectors) - Check you are
tuning-in the channel you selected.
3. Problem...
Only a poor signal from the computer can be tuned-in on the TV.
Action...
+ Check TV is set up and working correctly.
+ Check aerial lead (supplied) is fully plugged into computer and TV
aerial socket.
+ (If TV is so equipped) - Check AFC (or AFT) switch is set to off
position.
+ Check tuning-in has been carried out as accurately as possible.
4. Problem...
A signal from the computer is being tuned-in, but it's not the test
signal described above.
Action...
+ Check computer's test signal has been switched on (as described in
the previous section entitled 'Preparing to tune-in your TV').
5. Problem...
The test signal colour bars appear, but no sound (repeating tone) is
audible from the TV's speaker.
Action...
+ Check TV's volume control is not at minimum.
+ Check tuning-in has been carried out as accurately as possible.
6. Problem...
The test signal sound (repeating tone) can be head, but no colour bars
can be seen on the TV.
Action...
+ Check TV's brightness, contrast and colour controls are not at
minimum.
+ Check tuning-in has been carried out as accurately as possible.
7. Problem...
The test signal colour bars and sound are tuned-in, but none of the
text characters can be read.
Action...
+ Check tuning-in has been carried out as accurately as possible.
+ Check TV's brightness, contrast and colour controls are adjusted for
best results.
If you cannot identify the cause of your problem, try carrying out the
entire procedure (from the beginning of this chapter) again. If the
problem still persists, contact your Sinclair dealer.
Using the +3
The +3 system should now be fully set up, with the test signal colour
bars on the screen, and the repeating tone coming from the TV's
speaker.
We will now switch off the test signal and start using the +3. Press
and release the RESET button (at the left hand side of the +3). The
test signal will disappear from the screen, and in its place will be
the opening menu.
The opening menu
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| _________________ |
| |_128_+3__________| |
| |//Loader/////////| |
| | +3 BASIC | |
| | Calculator | |
| | 48 BASIC | |
| +-----------------+ |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| (C) 1982, 1986, 1987 Amstrad Plc. |
| Drives A: and M: available. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Note that the opening menu initially indicates which drives are
available for use: drive A: is the built-in disk drive (at the front
of the computer) and drive M: is the +3's internal RAMdisk (more about
this in chapter 8 part 20). If you have connected an external disk
drive to the +3, then you will see drive B: also indicated on the
menu. The opening menu will appear whenever you first plug in and
switch on the +3, or whenever you press and release the RESET button.
As its name suggests, the menu offers you a selection of options. You
can choose from one of the four options which appear within the
central box on the screen. These are:
Loader Choose this option if you wish to load Spectrum +3,
Spectrum +2 or Spectrum 128 software.
+3 BASIC Choose this option if you wish to use the +3 for BASIC
programming.
Calculator Choose this option if you wish to use the +3 as a
calculator only.
48 BASIC Choose this option if you wish to load Spectrum 48
software from tape (or wish to use the +3 as a 48K
Spectrum).
How to choose an option
Notice that the menu option Loader appears to be highlighted by a
'bar'. This means that the Loader option is ready to be selected -
(the selection hasn't been confirmed yet). For the purpose of this
example, let's assume that you don't want to select Loader, but that
instead you want to select +3 BASIC. This means that you need to move
the highlight bar to the option +3 BASIC. To do this, use the cursor
keys (shown below) until the highlight bar moves to the desired
position.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | EDIT| | | | | | | | | | ENTER |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | | | | | /^\ | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | \v/ | | |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Cursor Keys
When the highlight bar is on +3 BASIC, confirm this choice by pressing
the ENTER key.
The computer then switches to the +3 BASIC mode. You will see a black
horizontal bar (containing the words +3 BASIC) towards the bottom of
the screen, and a flashing blue and white blob (called the cursor) at
the top left-hand corner.
Don't worry if you know nothing about BASIC - we're not going to do
any programming just yet - we'll simply return to the opening menu
again. To do this, we use a different menu - this one's called the
edit menu. Call up the edit menu by pressing the EDIT key.
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| |
| |
| _________________ |
| |_Options_________| |
| |//+3 BASIC///////| |
| | Renumber | |
| | Screen | |
| | Print | |
| | Exit | |
| +-----------------+ |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| ___________________________________________________ |
| [_+3_BASIC__________________________________________] |
| |
| |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Again, using the cursor keys and ENTER, select the option Exit to
return to the opening menu.
You may now select whichever opening menu option you require.
Depending upon your selection, refer to the following chapters for
further information...
Loader Refer to chapters 3 and 4.
+3 BASIC Refer to chapters 6 and 8.
Calculator Refer to chapter 9.
48 BASIC Refer to chapters 4 and 7.
IMPORTANT - Whenever you have finished using the +3, always disconnect
the power supply unit from the mains supply socket (having first
removed any disk from the disk drive).